STUDENT DEBT CRISIS

The Student Debt Crisis

How Education Became Debt Slavery

The Scale of the Problem

Comparison: Student debt now exceeds auto loans and credit cards combined

How We Got Here

State Disinvestment

Per-student funding: Down 30% inflation-adjusted since 2000

Federal Loan Expansion

Result: Tuition increased 1,200% since 1980 (4x inflation)

Predatory Practices

Servicing failures: Loan servicers profit from confusion, misapplied payments

The Consequences

Economic Damage

Consumer spending: $100B+/year diverted from economy to debt service

Generational Injustice

Wealth transfer: Young to old, poor to rich, borrowers to lenders

Broken promise: "Go to college, get a good job" became "Go to college, get debt"

Current "Solutions" That Don't Work

Tuition freezes: States can't enforce, schools find workarounds

AIP Solution: Education Funded Through Accounts

The Mechanism

Incentive alignment: Students have stake in cost—shopping on value

System Effects

Price discipline returns: Students paying from finite account = pressure on costs

Generational wealth: Unused education funds remain for retirement

Transition for Current Borrowers

Future generations: Problem solved—no new student debt created

Discussion Questions

Is it fair that current borrowers don't get full relief?

How do we prevent credential inflation (requiring degrees for jobs that don't need them)?

What about high-cost programs (medical school, law school)?

How does this interact with existing scholarship and grant programs?

Should there be limits on education withdrawals from accounts?

Note: Student debt is symptom of broken financing model. AIP doesn't forgive existing debt but prevents future debt and provides tools (no income tax, accounts) that help current borrowers. Validators invited to assess fairness of transition approach.